Abstract

The research work presented in this thesis focuses on the synthesis, characterization and antiproliferative activities of natural and unnatural phenylpropanoid sucrose esters. To date, approximately, 150 natural PSEs have been isolated from various plant species of the families Arecaceae, Brassicaceae, Liliaceae, Polygonaceae, Polygalaceae and Rosaceae. The extracts of these plants have been used in traditional or folk medicines for the treatment of many diseases and disorders such as cancer, tumor, inflammation, viral, lung, cardiovascular, central nervous system disorders, ulcers, purgatives, syphilis, gonorrhoea, gout, rheumatic arthritis, boils, nephritis, diarrhoea, carbuncles and hair loss, etc. With the exception of niruriside, there are no existing synthetic routes to describe the laboratory synthesis of this class of compounds due to their structural complexity and the associated difficulties normally observed in sucrochemistry.